FAA ISSUES FINAL RULE WITH SFAR 111 EXPIRATION DATE
Last month, FAA issued a final rule that adds an expiration date and termination criteria to Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) SFAR 111, which temporarily authorizes variances from existing standards related to the provisioning of supplemental oxygen inside lavatories. This action is required by the publication of Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2012-11-09, which mandates actions that restore supplemental oxygen to lavatories.
FAA issued SFAR 111 because of the noncompliance with Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) created by compliance with AD 2011-04-09. Because no solution was available at that time that would both comply with the AD and provide oxygen to occupants of lavatories, SFAR 111 was intended to be in effect until superseded by further action.
In 2012, FAA chartered an Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to identify methods of restoring oxygen in airplane lavatories without creating security vulnerabilities. FAA is in the process of producing rulemaking to adopt new standards for chemical oxygen generator system installations and has issued Policy Statement PS-ANM-25-04, Chemical Oxygen Generator Installations. Applicants may use the guidance in the policy statement for approval of chemical oxygen generator systems. Further, FAA issued AD 2012-11-09, which mandates installation of a supplemental oxygen system in all airplanes affected by AD 2011-04-09.
The final rule sets an expiration date for SFAR 111 that coincides with the compliance date of AD 2012-11-09 and will become effective March 29, 2013. If you have any questions regarding compliance with SFAR 111 or AD 2012-11-09, please contact our office.